Starting today, I will be looking at three or four independent games that are coming out on consoles and PC in the near future, and I will be doing this once a month. I know some people will ask, “Why?” and the answer is simple … Independent games are made by studios made up of small teams, sometimes 20 people or fewer (sometimes there is only one person). For a small studio to take a chance like this and not have a big company behind them to help them is difficult, so why not put the spotlight on these games? Without further delay, let’s look at three upcoming independent games coming in 2020!
Carrion
Carrion is a reverse horror game coming out in 2020 from developer Phobia Game Studio and publisher Devolver Digital. In which, you assume the role of an amorphous creature of unknown origin. Stalk and consume those who imprisoned you to spread fear and panic throughout the facility. Grow and evolve as you tear down this prison and acquire more-and-more devastating abilities on the path to retribution.
As a long-time fan of horror games, this is already on my list of releases people should check-out and support as it is one of the few times where you play as the monster. There have only been a small handful of games in the past few years where you can do just that, but this looks to take it to another level. Look for it on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Macintosh operating systems in 2020.
12 Minutes
12 Minutes is an upcoming adventure game developed by Luis Antonio and will be published by Annapurna Interactive for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One. The game requires the player to repeatedly play through events of a 12-minute cycle to try to solve a mystery. 12 Minutes is played from a top-down perspective of an apartment suite shared by a man and his wife, including the main living and kitchen area, their bedroom, and bathroom. The player controls the husband during these events, where he is free to do various actions. This gameplay loop has been compared to The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. While the main loop lasts only 12 minutes in real time, the game is expected to take a player between six and eight hours to complete.
This one I have to speak on because it’s incredibly unique, and I highly recommend you monitor this as it really stands out.
Eastward
Eastward is an adventure game with RPG elements, set in a beautifully detailed decaying world, where society is starting to collapse as the human population shrinks to an all-time low. As the world around falls to ruin, you play as a hardworking digger named John, who must guide a mysterious girl named Sam through dangerous decaying cities, inhabited by strange monsters, and even stranger people! Inspired by 90s Japanese animation, the visual style of Eastward has been brought to life using a combination of a modern, innovative, 3D lighting system and rich, retro-pixel artwork.
Development started on Eastward at Pixpil’s Shanghai office in 2015, with only three team members using a game engine of the studio’s own making. Built around pixel artist Hong Moran’s original intricate post-apocalyptic pixel designs, and the team’s love of the Mother and The Legend of Zelda series and older Japanese animation styles, Pixpil were inspired to create a narrative-driven RPG with a soft sci-fi storyline. Since then, not only the ambitions of the game has grown, but also the team —now sitting at 10 members strong as they work towards the Nintendo Switch as well as PC and Mac in 2020.
That’s it for this month, but stay with us here at GamingLyfe as we look at more titles soon.
